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New Delhi: The government on Sunday decided to review the decision to restart scheduled commercial international passenger services as well as SOPs on testing and monitoring of incoming passengers, especially in view of the emergence of new COVID-19 variant ‘at risk’. from countries identified as ‘in’. Concern ‘Omicron’.
An official spokesperson said the decisions were taken in an urgent meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and attended by various stakeholders.
The meeting was held a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high-level review of the new COVID-19 version of the concern ‘Omicron’.
After a long hiatus of over 20 months, the government had on November 26 announced the resumption of scheduled international commercial flights from December 15.
A Home Ministry spokesperson said that in the meeting chaired by the Home Secretary, a comprehensive review of the overall global situation in the wake of Omicron virus was done and various preventive measures and further strengthening were discussed.
The spokesman said that the government will review the decision on the effective date of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services as per the evolving global scenario.
The new, potentially more infectious variant B.1.1.1.529 was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa on 24 November and has also been identified in Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel.
It was designated a “version of concern” by the WHO on Friday, which named it Omicron. One variant of concern is the WHO’s top category of worrying COVID-19 variants.
“Government to review standard operating procedure on testing and monitoring of incoming international passengers, particularly for countries that identify as ‘at risk’ category,” the spokesperson said in a series of tweets.
The government has also decided that genomic surveillance for variants will be further strengthened and intensified and Airport Health Officers (APHOs) and Port Health Officers (PHOs) will be sensitized for strict supervision of testing protocols at airports and seaports.
“The decision on the effective date of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger service will be reviewed in accordance with the global scenario,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the emerging pandemic situation within the country would be closely monitored.
The meeting was attended by various experts including VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister, senior officials of Health, Civil Aviation and other Ministries.
Read also: Amid Omicron threat, PM Modi says, ‘Monitor international arrivals, focus on countries at risk’
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